Development,
Social change, Transition societies, Role of youth, Entrepreneurship development,
Governance and people strengthening practices, Volunteers development
Asset Based Community
Development Micro credits and finance
Ignorance of Ability Brings Disability
"This is a short film I did in 2005
and it was nominated for
India-International Film Festival on disability
......"
5.4 million
Australians volunteer with that figure representing
approximately 35% of the population. The estimated value
of volunteering is
$70 billion. The complete survey report is available on the
FROM MEDIOCRITY TO VALUED PARTICIPATION -
Robyn Culver
Working
with individuals in a personalized way
requires a focus that moves from what funds
can purchase to a framework of strengths
that focuses on what each individual wants
for their life including their dreams and
goals. While focusing on broad dreams of
living an independent life, the approach
involves picking up readily achievable goals
such as learning how to use an iron. By
supporting individuals to achieve small,
easily achievable goals, individual
confidence is enhanced to strive further.
Community Connections Inc, a Canberra based
NGO introduced the Better Practice Project
as the result of a review of the Mature
Carers Project, instigating changes that
enhanced agency role in the Canberra
community. This paper presents outcomes of
this review including a major cultural shift
within the agency that resulted in staff
being hired according to their value base
rather than educational qualifications. As a
management strategy, it is easier to broaden
staff knowledge in respect of disability and
its implications such as inclusion and
valued participation, but is nearly
impossible to develop values which are not
aligned with those inherent to the work and
the mission. The results of this project in
the context of young people are
significantly positive. Biodata: Robyn Culver is the
Executive Director of Community Connections
Inc in July 2007. Robyn has worked in both
the ACT and southern and Regional NSW .
Robyn delivers values based training in the
field of aged and disability sectors. robyn@comcons.org.au
SUPPORTING ADOLESCENT REFUGEES THROUGH MUSIC
AND ART THERAPY - Jane Griffin, Claudje
Lecompte
This
session will present the HEAL Program (Home
of Expressive Arts Learning). This is a
school-based mental health service which
offers Music and Art Therapy to adolescent
refugee students. HEAL aims to provide
therapeutic services, research and
psychoeducation which increase the
possibility of culturally diverse
adolescents experiencing the good mental
health necessary to participate fully in the
learning experience, and to enjoy life
without barriers.
HEAL was established in 2004 at Milpera
State High School, in Brisbane, Queensland .
An Outreach Service is offered to other
schools.
HEAL clients have often experienced
traumatic circumstances in their refugee
journey. The adolescent refugee's need for
psychological support often increases along
with the complexity of their circumstances.
HEAL answers this need for support. Outcomes
for students involved in HEAL include:
Improved engagement with school; increased
ability to concentrate; improved social
interaction; use of creativity for
self-expression; relief of trauma symptoms;
enhanced subjective well-being. Biodata: Jane Griffin is an Arts
Psychotherapist and the founder of the HEAL
Program. She has a background in ESL
teaching, Fine Arts and Creative Arts
Therapies. B.Ed, Gr. Dip. TESOL, BFA, Gr.
Cert. Creative Arts Therapies, Ma. Mental
Health - Art Psychotherapy, UQ School of
Psychiatry, ATR.
janebill@optushome.com.au
Claudje is a
Developmental Guidance Officer and an Art
Psychotherapist. claudje@theopenstudio.com.au
MY OWN STORY OF RESILIENCE - Duncan Williams
Duncan
Williams identifies himself as an aboriginal
person. He is a diversity trainer offen
presenting on the rich diversity of the
aboriginal heritage of this country.
He has brought together a training module
that sensitises both mainstream communities
in Australia, especially public servants and
also the rest of the communities that are
interested in genuine and respectful
interaction with the aboriginal communities
in Australia. In this conference Duncan is
looking at his own growth and development
and reflects on the nature of coping and
development of resilience within himself.
Duncan is a deeply human and spiritual
person developed abilities to see and draw
the best in others. Duncan's mother was
instrumental in seeing that Duncan kept his
contact with his nativity, culture and his
people from his father's side. Duncan's
maternal heritage is part Irish. Biodata: Dunan William wrote the
modules for 'Mura Ama Wakaana' cultural
sensitivity training. 'Mura Ama Wakaana'
literally means 'people working together'.
This training package is used to sensitise
public servants in Queensland about the
historical and social realities of the
aboriginal communities in Australia. Duncan
Williams is a Senior Programme Officer in
the Indigenous Employment and Training and
widely trains in Queensland.. Duncan is one
of the founding members of the Brisbane
Institute of Strengths Based Practice.
dwilliams53@bigpond.com
http://www.strengthsbasedpractice.com.au/team.htm
FOUNDATION ART OF MANDALA WORKSHOP - Claudje
Lecompte
Mandalas
in therapy were first used in the West by
Carl Jung, who found that the act of drawing
mandalas had a calming and healing effect on
patients while at the same time facilitating
psychic integration (Henderson, 2005)
The Foundation Art of Mandala workshop
offered by Claudje Lecompte, Art
Psychotherapist at The Open Studio, New
Farm, looks at the traditional Tibetan
mandala and some of the symbolism within the
architecture or design of the mandala. The
dominant elements and their meanings are
translated and integrated into a model that
can be used as a guided meditation or
mindfulness practice, either as self-therapy
or with an individual client, couple, family
or group. Participants will have an
opportunity to use traditional Tibetan brass
tools and sand to construct their own sand
mandala, or if participants want to take
something home, they can use paper and
crayon to draw a personal mandala. Biodata: Claudje Lecompte (BFA, Dip
Teach., Grad Dip Teach Resource, M Ed
Guidance & Counselling, M MH- Art Therapy.
Claudje is a Developmental Guidance Officer
and an Art Psychotherapist. She has a
background as an art teacher and currently
combines her art and counselling experience
working with primary aged students and
adolescent refugees at HEAL. She is also
Principal Art Psychotherapist at The Open
Studio-New Farm. claudje@theopenstudio.com.au
www.theopenstudio.com.au
FULL SERVICE SCHOOLS: THEIR ROLE IN
CONTRIBUTING TO FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE - Megan Barnett and Susan Young
Full service schools (FSS)
are in their infancy in WA, although they
have been prevalent in low socio-economic
areas in the U.S. and the U.K over the past
two decades. Their purpose is to address the
educational and social deficits children
experience due to disadvantaged environments
through coordination of health and welfare
services either on or off site. A primary
school in Armadale, WA commenced a FSM three
years ago and began addressing the perceived
and real deficits in both the local
community and the children's educational
attainment. However the FSM operated from a
strengths perspective for much of that time.
As such this model is considered by its
proponents in Armadale to contribute to the
resilience of the local community and the
coping strategies of its families through
working with what the people can do and know
rather than solely concentrating on what
they lack. While not dismissing the need to
attend primarily on a school's 'core'
business of ensuring children are literate
and numerate, the FSM regards as essential
attending to the 'whole' environment which
inevitably affects children's ability to
learn. This paper presents characteristics
of the strengths-based FSM operating in
Armadale with its achievements. Biodata: Megan Barnett is the
Principal of the Armadale school which runs
the Full Service Model and a MA candidate.
Dr Susan Young teaches social work at the
University of Western Australia and has a
long term involvement in community
development. megan.barnett@det.wa.gov.au Biodata: Dr. Susan Young and Margaret
McKenzie are social work educators at the
University of Western Australia susan.young@uwa.edu.au
BEING LESS OF AN ALLIED HEALTH “EXPERT”,
MORE OFA “CHANGE AGENT”: STRENGTHS BASED
PRACTICE, A WHOLE OF LIFE EXPERIENCE IN
AUTHENTICITY - Gwen Liddle, Jenny Henley
This
presentation reflects on the 7 year journey
of the presenters in strengths based
practice in supporting families with a child
with a significant global developmental
delay. In previous years, we had witnessed
some “success stories” of families, but
struggled to support many others who
experienced social isolation, depression and
burn-out in the intensive parenting role
involved in the care of their child. This
journey began in 2003. when we received
strengths based practice training. The
resulting post-training self-awareness and
paradigm shift of having permission to be
less of an expert and more of a helper,
along with specific reflective tools,
improved both parent's and therapists'
perceptions of hope and noticing of
change/progress. This paper presents authors
experience with strengths based practice as
a whole-of-life practice. (permeating
personal and professional life, and being
important for intra-team and authentic
with-client relationships). Specific
strategies and specific tools used, will be
examined. Co-presenting with a family with
whom we worked, we will outline and
demonstrate anecdotal evidence of
therapeutic outcomes from families and the
team. The process described is part of a
forthcoming article in the Journal of
Applied Research in Intellectual
Disabilities. Biodata: Gwen Liddle has been working
as Occupational Therapist since 2002 in
Disability Services. Prior to this Gwen has
been a registered primary school teacher.
gwen.liddle@communities.qld.gov.au Biodata: Jenny Henley is a Speech
Language Pathologist by training and is
Facilitator in a Family Support team in Dept
of Communities, Disability and Community
Care Services.Jenny also holds Post graduate
qualifications in education. Jenny.henley@communities.qld.gov.au
ENABLING MY STRENGTHS: DIAGNOSED WITH MS
WHEN I WAS 13! - Bobby Bajram
Bobby
Bajram is the youngest person in Australia
ever to be diagnosed with MS at the age of
13 when he was legally blind and in a
wheelchair. Bobby is now a passionate 40
year old - he is a devoted man who cares for
people and is challenged to open people's
minds to the possibilities available to
those who are disabled. Bobby is the Voice
of The Disabled and has been tremendously
successful in writing and producing
international TV documentaries including the
The MS Show and Behind Closed Doors.
Together with a medical
practitioner Dr John Tickell, a new website
has been founded by a group of professional
people who are passionate about educating
disabled people and their carers about
health, fitness and lifestyle possibilities.
www.possibilitiesfordisabilities.com
BUILDING WORKER RESILIENCE AND HOPE WHEN
WORKING WITH PEOPLE WITH COMPLEX NEEDS -
Paige Garland
This
workshop utilises strengths-based practice
to develop innovative responses to people
with complex needs that are in crisis. This
workshop will assist carers working with
persons presenting seriously challenging
behavior and/or complex medical issues.
Concerns and issues around service user
satisfaction with the service; successful
meeting of their needs and effective
management of medical conditions will be
addressed. Central to this workshop is
stability in the home and living conditions
of the consumers of the service. Paige
Garland proposes the deployment of
strengths-based practice to develop
flexible, innovative service responses to
meet client's complex needs. She will share
examples of complex casework in management
from the community services sector that
involves staffing and accommodation support
options. The challenges of this sector and
the opportunities that they offer are tabled
in this workshop. This workshop is aimed at
a number of professional workers that
grapple with jurisdictional issues, mental
health services, police, and disability
service provision while responding to both
the service users and their severely
distressed families.
The workshop is set to explore practical
solutions to complex service design and
management in the field of disability
servicing. Biodata: Paige Garland has 15 years
of experience including management of a wide
range of community services such as
accommodation support, respite, early
intervention, recreation and adult
community-based supports. One of her
agencies grew from supporting approximately
25 clients to more than 130 clients in
approximately three years during her
management and received external
commendations for effective service
delivery. Paige (B.Bus & Com., B.Arts, Dip.
Teach) is Director, Plan-it Life Pty Ltd
paige.garland@plan-itlife.com
UTILIZATION OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER CARE
SERVICES BY PATIENTS LIVING IN REMOTE AREAS
AND DEALING WITH A CANCER DIAGNOSIS - Dr.
Tristan Allsopp
Head
and neck cancer is a disease that despite
new medical therapies, still has a high
mortality rate and usually causes
substantial morbidity. A diagnosis such as
this places significant stress on an
individual's coping mechanism. Often in
metropolitan areas there are numerous
supportive groups including family, friends
and medical agencies, all of which are
utilised to a different degree by patients.
In comparison, patients in rural Australia
have limited access to medical services and
may not have close personal supports to help
deal with a life changing event.
Toowoomba Base Hospital is a rural hospital
servicing an estimated population of 250,000
people in the surrounding area. Many of the
patients seen in our Head and Neck unit live
in these surrounding areas and up to 900
kilometres from The Toowoomba Hospital.
The isolation and rurality of many of these
patients have therefore resulted in
substantial difficulties in supporting these
patients. Our Head and Neck Cancer Care
Service has been operating for approximately
12 months, and numerous changes have been
made to provide support for these patients.
This presentation will look at the
utilization of our cancer care service and
lessons that have been learned over the past
twelve months. Biodata: Dr Tristan Allsopp, MBBS,
James Cook University, has for the past two
years has worked at The Toowomba Hospital.
He has completed rotations in breast cancer,
head and neck cancer, lung transplant and
oncology. tjallsopp@gmail.com
PRIORITY ONE: MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION AND
EARLY INTERVENTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE A
MULTIFACETED APPROACH - Adam Lo
The
Logan-Beaudesert Child and Youth Mental
Health Service, Early Intervention Unit (EIU)
focuses on delivering mental health
promotion, illness prevention and early
intervention (MHPPEI) services to young
people between the ages of 0-18. It embraces
the concept of resiliency in individuals,
family units and the community, through
education, resource sharing, group programs
and community capacity building strategies.
This presentation will illustrate how the
EIU, a small team recently expanded to three
clinicians, delivers a host of MHPPEI
initiatives across the district. A selection
of past, present and future programs
delivered or co-delivered by the EIU will be
discussed, such as More than the Blues (a
program for young people with emerging
depression), OurSpace (an initiative to
support children of parents or relatives
with a mental illness), the “Priority One
Conference 2009” and “Unwell” (a drama
performance addressing mental illness stigma
in the community). The presenters hope that
the presentation would be able to encourage
other communities, which may not have yet
been able to deliver MHPPEI initiatives, due
to various reasons such as limited
resources, to give it a go. It is our
priority one, is it yours? Biodata: Adam Lo as an occupational
therapist at the Logan-Beaudesert Child and
Youth Mental Health Service, coordinates
COPMI (Children of Parents with a Mental
Illness). Adam is interested art and music
therapy in mental health, multicultural
mental health adam.lo@health.qld.gov.au